Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

It's time to take action.

It's time to act; it's time to kill them.

We must act as soon as possible.

They must be killed as soon as possible, without leaving a single one alive.

I have to act before these strange creatures realize what they are, otherwise things will get really bad if they start to fight back.

Only I can bring happiness to others, only I can save others, and for those who deserved to die anyway, all I did was end their suffering; I was giving them happiness.

That's right, only I can do it.

That's right, only I can do it.

I am the only one who can bear this bitter fruit, and only I can end the suffering of these ignorant people.

This happiness can only be given by me. Only I can end the despair of these innocent people, bring them true redemption, and let them sleep peacefully in eternal happiness.

Ah, so that's how it is. This is happiness, this is happiness.

Yes, yes.

This is happiness, this is happiness, this is true happiness.

Living brings endless suffering.

The process from birth to death is a continuous process of enduring suffering.

Therefore, it would be better if no life were ever born in the first place.

Eternal death is the only way to happiness.

The so-called happiness of being alive is just an illusion, a temporary mirage; death is the only way to truly bring happiness.

I am the one who can save everyone; I am the true savior.

I will kill everyone. I will kill every living thing in this world.

If everyone dies, everyone will be happy.

Let me bring you happiness.

……

The smell of blood was spreading.

I can't remember what happened before.

I only saw a lot of corpses, and a lot of people who were already dead and were smiling.

Among them were my companions, players who helped me rescue survivors, and ordinary people we rescued who were originally to be escorted to the shelter.

Why did everyone die?

Why does this happen?

Where am I? What am I doing? Did I really do these things?

Did I bring happiness to everyone? Ah, have I finally given everyone true happiness?

No, something's not right.

My body feels so heavy. Am I injured? Am I going to die?

Am I about to find true happiness?

Is that so? I feel like this is... happiness?

The rescue team hasn't arrived yet, but everyone is already dead.

Only I can...

I'm going to die, I'm bleeding, and my body temperature is dropping.

Is it because you're about to die that you can regain a little consciousness?

【happiness……】

You need to tell other people.

This place...this place is extremely dangerous...a warning must be issued, a warning must be issued to others.

If this is the last thing I can do...

I must……

……

"Seven new deaths have been confirmed, including three from the [Architecture Club], two from the [Drifters' Alliance], and two rescued survivors. No survivors were encountered in this encounter, and the souls of all the deceased have vanished. We are very sorry, Mr. Gao, we are late again."

Cat Brother stood before several twisted corpses, sighed, and gave his report.

The thing hidden here can probably only be resisted by those with a mental strength at the Red Moon level. And now this distorted space is constantly sucking in more survivors and rescuers; the problem will only worsen at this rate. We must find a way to destroy this place.

Gao Hai sighed over the mental communication channel. The series of bad news coming from Cat Brother was clearly giving him a headache.

"The spatial anomalies here are very troublesome. I've been trying to get as close to the central area as possible, but I still don't feel like I'm really getting close to that thing. Instead, I feel like I'm going in circles. I think we should try to isolate this space first. Exploring inside is too passive. Moreover, I can feel my mind being affected little by little. I can't be sure what will happen if we continue."

Cat Brother said with a hint of helplessness, squatting down to carefully examine the corpses.

[...Indeed, one problem after another. Investigate for another 10 minutes. If you don't find any new clues within 10 minutes, take the survivors you've found and try to escape.]

Gao Hai's voice betrayed a hint of irritability. His emotions had become unstable after the [Internal Medicine Doctor] dragged Ichiri and Chika into the dungeon, and Miko and Kita were also drawn back into danger. He had been suppressing his anger, maintaining a high level of support. The bad news from Neko-san's side was just one example; bad news was everywhere in Tokyo. Under the hospital's full-scale counterattack, Gao Hai was overwhelmed and on the verge of exploding.

"..."

Knowing that Gao Hai's situation was not good, Cat Brother did not say anything more at this time. However, noticing something, he reached out and turned over a corpse that was almost completely torn apart, revealing the notebook in the corpse's hand.

The notebook was completely soaked in blood, and the words were illegible when opened. However, Cat Brother was able to barely discern some traces using his senses, which were at the level of a Red Moon player. He then summoned Gao Hai and used the other's information to restore the blessing, making the traces more obvious and readable.

It appears that these words were forcibly written in the notebook by the player with his broken fingers in the last moments of his life.

The rules for the ghost stories in this area take effect as follows:

[1. By using mental manipulation, hallucinations, and sensory deception, the gathered living people are dispersed. This process is difficult to resist, and it is speculated that at least Red Moon-level willpower is required to remain conscious.]

[2. Gradually influencing the will of living individuals who act alone, causing them to gradually despise others and develop the idea that "only I can save everyone." This process can still be detected, but even if it is detected, the affected individuals may not pay attention to it.]

[3. The affected living people will gradually gather, and at this time only the affected will be gathered. Before these affected people meet each other, they will first see the corpse of the other person in their hallucinations and believe that the other person is a ghost, which will further lead to the idea of ​​killing everyone except themselves. The affected people at this stage are no longer aware that they are affected by the ghost story's power and will actively disguise themselves. Any affected person who is persuaded or awakened at this stage may be disguising themselves. Please try to knock out the affected people at this stage and do not let them wake up.]

[4. When this influence reaches its peak, those affected will begin to kill each other. At this point, they can conjure weapons capable of harming one another out of thin air and will tend to focus solely on killing others without using any means of self-defense. As long as those affected remain conscious during this stage, they are virtually impossible to restrain; some undetectable force ensures their actions. It is speculated that the unseen entity has already appeared around the affected individuals, but they are unaware of it, or perhaps even if they do notice it, they will ignore it.]

[5. The infighting among those affected will inevitably end in total annihilation, and the monster will absorb the souls of everyone in the end. If there are any survivors, the monster will appear after observing for a period of time and torture them, hastening their death (the handwriting becomes extremely messy from here)]

The other party is not—

【Book】

【——任体】

[Emphasis on ■happiness■■■■幸■]

[Kill...everyone...]

【■■■＆％？ ？ 】

【■■】

[Human #? #■Class■%Must■&*@. ■Win/■■■Win]

After flipping through the notebook smeared with the victims' blood, and seeing the increasingly messy, blood-written words that were almost impossible to decipher in the end, Cat Brother squatted on the ground, remained silent for a long time, and then sighed softly before putting the notebook away and standing up.

Even with Gao Hai's power, there was no way to revive these victims, because their souls were not here.

After their souls were sucked away by some unknown monster, even if Gao Hai forcibly resurrected these people, he could only resurrect a bunch of mindless chunks of flesh.

Therefore, to truly save these people, we must find the strange creature hiding in this area, defeat it, and extract the souls it has devoured. Hmm, will there really be any souls left to extract? It feels like there's a lot of potential problems.

Now Mr. Gao is even considering temporarily abandoning this place, which means only I can save him... It seems I've already been affected. Even with Red Moon-level mental strength, prolonged exposure to a ghostly environment can't completely immunize me against this thing's power.

As he pondered, Cat Brother's gaze shifted to Sun Dajun, who had been secretly observing him from a short distance behind him. The other man looked away the instant Cat Brother turned his head, but Cat Brother knew all too well how many times Sun Dajun had secretly watched him along the way.

Based on the rules summarized by the player before his death, the next stage should not be far off.

It seems we should consider a way to lure the snake out of its hole.

Having made his decision in secret, Cat Brother grinned and then gestured for Sun Dajun to follow him, continuing forward into the dark, narrow passage ahead.

Chapter 49: Exploring the Depths, the Power of Aerial Missiles, and the Infinitely Overlapping Boundaries.

Perhaps a doctor is hidden in this unknown, uncharted territory.

After obtaining relevant clues from Cat Brother, Gao Hai quickly came to this conclusion.

The main problem was that the other party's characteristics were too obvious. The sentence about "emphasizing happiness" immediately reminded people of the existence of a "doctor," especially since Gao Hai had personally met a "psychologist" and indirectly met an "internist" through Ichiri. Seeing such a sentence made people immediately realize the possible situation.

So, is there a doctor hidden in the hospital? I've already met the other two doctors, so the last surgeon is hidden here, is that right?

If this is indeed the case, then the players who are still in the situation are in danger.

But... well, this feeling definitely doesn't seem like the aura a doctor should have. Even if the other party were to actively disguise themselves and hide their aura of this level, it would still be unrealistic.

Gao Hai closed his eyes, trying to open up his senses as much as possible.

No matter how hard he tried to perceive it, that area of ​​space remained a blur in Gao Hai's perception, and he couldn't see any clear images.

Just like Cat Brother and Sun Dajun, who are currently in the midst of this situation, even though Gao Hai knows that the two of them are acting together and can contact them at any time, in his perception, the two of them are only in a blurry area, and he cannot tell how far apart they are.

Just as this bizarre edge space revealed, the aura could always be clearly sensed, but the location was impossible to pinpoint precisely. It was for this reason that Gao Hai could consistently perceive the distorted aura hidden within this space, knowing that something extremely powerful, exceeding the limits of normal monsters, was indeed concealed here. The thing's specific strength should be around the Abyss Domain level. As for what it was, Gao Hai didn't know, but this level of power clearly couldn't compare to [The Doctor]. Even the [Psychotherapist's] clone was far beyond the reach of any monster in terms of strength. In short, ultimately, [The Doctor] had already entered the "god-like" level, something that couldn't be hidden from Gao Hai.

So, what exactly is going on here?

Similar to the rule-based power of a [doctor].

Similar to the word "happiness" often used in the concept of "doctor".

And the strangeness of this space itself.

When these things were combined, the resulting eerie area caused Gao Hai to feel a slight unease.

Even if the thing here isn't a "doctor," it's undoubtedly extremely dangerous. Its power level is far beyond what players can easily contend with, even a top-tier player like Cat Brother. Yet, Gao Hai is currently finding it difficult to pull Cat Brother out of this strange space. This bizarre spatial area is essentially one-way in, one-way out, and Gao Hai doesn't have a good solution for the time being. Attempting a full-scale attack could potentially kill the players and survivors inside.

I have an idea.

Cat Brother's message came at this moment.